We believe wholeheartedly that knowledge is power, especially when it comes to birth, and that ALL WOMEN, no matter what their situation, should have easy access to knowledge about which maternity practices usually produce the best outcomes for themselves and their babies.

The reality is that not every woman has access to someone in the birthing community through which she can get recommendations, has time to call various providers to determine rates, services and best fit, or has the free time to attend group meetings or community events centered around birth education. That’s why we’ve focused our efforts on creating a “one stop shopping” online birth resource for Northern Virginia, free for anyone to join and easy for moms to use anywhere, anytime.

We provideFree OnlineContent updated weekly by our staff with articles by professionals of the Northern VA birthing and medical communities, a growing Directory of providers and mother-baby friendly local businesses, weekly and monthly Newsletters alerting members of recent articles and new providers who’ve joined the Directory, and a Community Area, where NoVA members can explore best birthing practices and connect with potential providers and clients.

Coming Soon: We will also be launching our YouTube channel where we tackle questions from the local community regarding various topics such as managing special circumstances during labor and birth to dealing with a medical care provider who ignores or defies mom’s birthing choices.

NoVA Natural Birth Network is a free, easy to use online resources for helping Northern Virginia women have the best possible outcomes during pregnancy, birth and postpartum.

The website was started in late 2012, after its founder grew frustrated over not being able to make headway while researching for her second pregnancy during her lunch hour or while commuting on the bus. Being new to the area she didn’t know anyone to contact for help, and with an infant and a full time job, those were the only times she had available to do her research. Eventually, she found several forums that catered to moms, but those were mostly focused on parenting issues, not on finding birth resources off the beaten track. Besides, she had never used forums before and felt that they were kind of inefficient, unreliable, and she never really knew the background of the person answering her question, or who was reading (and judging) her questions or comments.

So, at her husband’s suggestion, she started NoVA Birth Network.org, with the goal of serving other women who, like herself, needed help finding birth resources during their limited free time.

As a doula, childbirth educator, mom and network founder, Monica's goal is for NoVA Natural Birth Network to augment the birth resources already in place in Northern VA through its free online content which women can access anywhere, anytime, to connect more women with Northern VA’s birth providers through its Directory which women can use 24 hours a day to search for and learn about the care providers in the local area, and to create a safe space for women seeking knowledge about birth through its Community Home which women can use to connect with other women, providers or local business owners, ask questions about how to have a great birth outcome, and know the face, name and qualifications of the person on the other end.

NoVA Natural Birth Network is pending nonprofit status and is currently exploring partnershipswith state agencies and other local nonprofits for the purpose of expanding access to information and resources for all women in Northern Virginia, regardless of time, money or connections.